Ever suffered 40 lashes with a wet noodle? Maybe it was just the common punishment for pint-sized misdemeanors when I was growing up, but I can’t help but hope that this rich tradition of minor affliction in the face of tiny crimes has lived on. For those who decry my seemingly sadomasochistic sentimentality, 40 lashes with a wet noodle don’t actually hurt — but you can serve the noodle for dinner afterwards without dessert if you really want a kid to rethink the choices of his or her so-far short lifetime. And when you run out of wet noodles, you can just make more. Happy World Pasta Day!

Officially, today is Columbus Day in the United States. The Oatmeal proposes that we ditch Columbus entirely and make it Bartolome de las Casas Day, instead, and offers more than a few compelling ideas why. What do you think? This isn’t the first time The Oatmeal has made us rethink a thing or two. Here’s another quality example of The Oatmeal’s brilliance.

In celebration of National Bald and Free Day, we embrace Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his favorite drink: Tea, Earl Grey, Hot! Of course, you don’t have a replicator, so you’ll have to scoop out this blend into your favorite looseleaf brewer.

September 21, 2011by Chris Pirilloin Fun, Holidays, LEGO0 commentstags: advent, christmas, lego, star-wars
I got a LEGO Star Wars Advent Calendar! The idea of using an Advent calendar once held deep, religious significance for me – but since evolving into a non-Catholic, I only seem to appreciate the winter Holiday season for nostalgic reasons. I love the sights and sounds of Christmas, but… not its largely-borrowed-by-Christianity foundation. As such, I don’t feel the slightest bit of guilt when I go about my merry way, spreading love and joy without being chained to an outdated dogma. Speaking of chains and Advent calendars… when I was a child, my brothers and I would find ourselves counting down the days to Christmas by stapling together (then tearing apart) a string of paper rings. It was a Christmastime staple! And, yes, we used staples to keep those chains together. I took the tradition too far one year and accidentally stapled my finger to one of the links. On the 11th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me… a bandage. I’m quite grateful that LEGO is producing Advent calendars which do not require the usage of any pointed object. I may not have the best hand-eye coordination, but I can click bricks with the best of […]

January 01, 2011by Chris Pirilloin Communication, Community, Health, Holidays, Life2 commentstags: 2011, happy-new-year, new-year
It’s difficult to make myself believe that 2011 is here already. Didn’t 2010 just start a couple of weeks ago? Where the hell has the time gone so quickly? It almost feels as though each and every year goes by faster than the one before. I’m not getting old, so that cannot be the reasoning. In any case – for better or for worse – it’s now 2011. This year is going to be a better one. I don’t believe in making resolutions on New Year’s Day. I feel it’s more important to make changes in your life as soon as you know they need to occur. Don’t wait for a specific day to start living better. It’s better to evolve yourself year-round. By making a resolution, you’re putting WAY too much pressure on yourself and the chances of failure are much higher. Additionally, some people set unrealistic goals for themselves, making things more difficult and convoluted. I have hopes and wishes for the coming twelve months, of course. Many of them involve all of you. We plan to continue building the community and giving you the tools and resources you need to go out and make a difference in […]

December 27, 2010by Chris Pirilloin Community, Entertainment, Fun, Gadgets, Hardware, Holidays, Technology0 commentstags: christmas, gifts, holiday, presents, thinkgeek, unboxing, YouTube
Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed Merry Christmas to all and to all a good haul! This happens to be my favorite holiday, even when I happen to be celebrating it alone. I’m very glad to know you’re here with me (even virtually, in homes of your own). I bought myself a very cool Boba Fett hoodie this year. I’ve been wanting one forever, so I decided to go ahead and splurge! I received several really cool gifts from various friends, including some great new LEGO and Star Wars stuff! Thank you to all of you. I also bought myself a Panasonic DMP-B500 Portable DVD Player. Gosh, how did I ever figure out what it was I really wanted? YouTube sent a gift to some of the producers, as well. We were asked to go to B&H Photo and Video and choose a few things we knew we could need/use. I chose wisely, knowing I will be broadcasting live soon from CES 2011. I’ll be in the Grand Lobby, and uploading all of the resulting videos to my YouTube account. Thanks so much to the folks at YouTube for these goodies. ThinkGeek […]

December 16, 2010by Chris Pirilloin Community, Google, Health, Holidays, Life2 commentstags: charity, chrome, chrome-for-a-cause, google
Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed Bowman is using his time this week to urge you to help donate to charitable organizations – without giving up a single cent of your own money. From now until December 19th, Google will donate money on your behalf for every Chrome tab you have open. You’ll need to install the free Chrome for a Cause Extension in your browser. Google has said they will donate up to one million dollars in this venture. The Extension will keep track of how many tabs you use each day. At the end of the day, choose where you would like your donation to be sent: The Nature Conservacy, Charity: Water, Doctors Without Borders, Un Techo para mi País or Room to Read. That’s all you have to do – choose. Google will do the rest, including writing those checks.